“Drive-thru Distribution” Feeds Over 300 Families at Oxnard College, Volunteers Forced to Turn Down Families

OXNARD, Calif. (KEYT) — Bags full of milk, eggs, bread, and vegetables are now a luxury for many.

Volunteers with VC Defensa say this is the highest number of people they’ve served since mid-summer.

“ You see people's faces. You can see the need and you can see the fear and you can see the relief and the gratefulness and the thankfulness when they receive food,” said Oxnard College Sociology Professor Dolores Ortiz.

The effort began in June after immigration raids made people afraid to go to work.
 
The threat of reducing Cal Fresh benefits didn't help.
 
During the summer, volunteers delivered door to door.
 
But now, they're having people pick up the food, which makes it more efficient to hand out perishable items.
 
“All the food that was here today got delivered this morning that got brought in, We wouldn't be able to do that if our food distribution was say, tomorrow and we had it delivered today. Where do we house this stuff? We don't have enough refrigerator space,” said VC Defensa Volunteer Leo Martinez.
  
Over 300 families were helped with the food distribution today. But there's still not enough supply to meet the increased demand.
 
“You can see the disappointment in their heart, in their eyes, when we're not able to help. And I think that's why it's emotional, just seeing that human cost through these systematic choices that our government is making,” said Dolores Ortiz.
  
On Friday volunteers had to turn away roughly 50 families.

“It’s not a number. It's a person right here. It's a family,” said Oxnard College Volunteer Jessica Vargas Ruiz.

The next food distributions at Oxnard College are planned the mornings of Friday December 5th and Friday December 12th.